“Ten minutes ago,” Kai told me. “The academy owns, what, twelve hundred acres of forest?”

“About that,” Aaron answered as he slowed the car. “The academy buildings are that way.”

He slowed further as we passed a left turn, and I glimpsed a white building through the brush. My stomach did a nervous dance on top of my kidneys. Or liver. Or whatever organ my stomach was on top of. The narrow road continued and the forest gave way to manicured trees and smooth lawns, still green despite the frosting of fresh snow.

Directly ahead, an old-fashioned stone wall peeked through the thick branches of the mature trees lining the road.

Aaron took a hand off the wheel and tapped Ezra’s shoulder. “Wake up, buddy. We’re almost at the house.”

Ezra inhaled sleepily and sat up straighter. “Already?”

We zoomed toward the stone wall, which was growing larger, then the road curved. I craned my neck, my eyes going wider and wider. The car rolled alongside the building, then pulled underneath a covered carriage porch that stretched across the road—no, not the road. The driveway.

The moment the car stopped, Sin threw her door open and leaped from the vehicle. I was right behind her. We scrambled into the cold air, strode out from under the stone roof that arched over the car, and looked up. Way up.

Car doors banged shut as the guys got out. I didn’t even care that my mouth was hanging open as I backed up to bring more of the structure into view.

Aaron gave his home a passing glance. “Surprised?”

“But that’s … that’s a castle.”

Ezra appeared on my other side. “I tried to convince Tobias to add a moat, but no dice.”

I pointed like they hadn’t noticed the building towering over us. “A castle? You live in a castle?”

“Well … not anymore.” Aaron shrugged. “Shall we—oh, hey Dominic.”

A man wearing a crisp white dress shirt, gray vest, and black tie had walked out the castle’s front door. “Good afternoon, Mr. Sinclair. Would you like me to take care of your vehicle and luggage?”

“That’d be great, thanks.”

Aaron lifted his keys. They zoomed out of his hand as though tied to an invisible string and flew toward the other man.

“Welcome home,” Dominic added as the keys landed neatly on his waiting palm. “Your mother is in the living room.”

My attention wandered from the telekinetic butler back to the Sinclair family home. The castle stretched a hundred feet to the east and to the west, the walls interspersed with huge Tudor windows, the ancient masonry clad in tangled ivy. The gable roof featured peaked dormers above the fourth-story windows, and in the center, a blocky tower rose eighty feet. An actual tower, with battlements and everything. Rapunzel could’ve thrown her damn hair off the top.

“Let’s go!” Aaron called, standing on the steps in front of the entrance, Kai beside him. I hastened to join them, and Ezra followed behind me. Sin, yet to rehinge her jaw, trailed after us.

Inside was a reasonably small vestibule, and I almost relaxed—until I saw the man in a uniform identical to Dominic’s waiting for us.

“May I take your coat, Mr. Sinclair?”

“Thanks, Brett.” Aaron handed over his jacket, and Kai shrugged his off and passed it over.

Ezra was unzipping his too, so I nervously followed suit. Sin and I gave the butler—footman? I didn’t even know—our coats, then followed Aaron into the … entrance hall. What else could I call it?

The vaulted ceiling arched two stories overhead and was crisscrossed with dark timber trusses. Antique chandeliers hung on long chains, softly illuminating the glossy, elaborate wainscoting. Twin staircases stood on either side of us, leading to a second-floor balcony, and directly ahead was the biggest sandstone fireplace I’d ever seen, flanked by two twelve-foot Christmas trees with ornaments and flickering gold lights sparkling on their boughs.

Aaron and Kai breezed past the fireplace and Christmas trees, heading right down a wide corridor. Ezra followed, and I crowded behind him. Sin bumped my side, hovering just as close. The blue carpet, which ran down the center of the corridor, absorbed our footsteps. Aaron and Kai disappeared through the first door on their left.

“Aaron, darling!”

The female voice floated out of the room, and I gave up all pretense of composure and grabbed the back of Ezra’s shirt. Sin clutched my shirt, and we cowered behind him in a conga line of wimpiness as he walked in.

The room wasn’t as imposing as I’d expected. I was still intimidated as hell, but at least I could breathe. Elegant furniture formed a cozy sitting area around another, more modest, fireplace. A bar ran along the opposite side of the room, and a huge window filled the back wall, letting in streams of hazy sunlight. Another gargantuan Christmas tree, this one decorated in shades of blue and teal instead of white and gold, filled one corner, so perfect it could’ve been photographed for a home décor magazine.

“It’s so wonderful to have you back!” A slim older woman kissed Aaron’s cheeks, then peered into his face. “You must visit more often. I tell you this every year.”

“I know, Mom.”

She swept to Kai, her hands went on his shoulders, and she kissed his cheeks like a proper French lady. “Kai, how are you more handsome every time I see you! Have you kept my Aaron out of trouble this year?”

“As best I could, Valerie.”

She turned and spotted the rest of us. Her smile widened, perfect white teeth flashing and delicate wrinkles gracing her features, the only sign that she was a youthful fifty and not thirty. Her raven hair was twisted in an elegant bun and she wore an outfit I could only describe as “expensive”—pale peach slacks that looked impossibly soft, a chic ivory blouse, and a matching blazer with three-quarter-length sleeves. A bracelet bursting with diamonds sparkled on her wrist.

“Darling Ezra!” She swooped down on him, caught his shoulders, and stretched up to kiss his cheeks too. Sin and I ducked behind him. Dignity? Who needed that?

“You look pale, honey.” She frowned at him. “Are you feeling under the weather? Should I call the healer?”

“I’m fine. Thank you, Valerie,” he said. “Just tired.”

“Well, you can sleep all you like while you’re here. Is that guild working you boys too hard?” She tsked—then suddenly she was sweeping around Ezra. Her cool hands caught mine. “You must be Tori! Aaron has told me so much about you. Welcome to our home.”

I gaped, then dusted off my manners. “Thank you for having us, Mrs. Sinclair.”

“Oh, call me Valerie.” Next thing I knew, her lips tapped my cheek on one side, then the other. “And this must be Sin. Hello, my dear. Your sister is such a delight.”

“Y-you know Lily?” Sin stammered.

Valerie laughed throatily, then captured Sin for cheek kisses. “Of course, of course. I know all our students.”

“Mom is the Administration Director but also the school’s unofficial guidance counselor,” Aaron said, already slouched in one of the sofas, his shoes propped on an antique coffee table that probably cost more than all the furniture in my apartment put together. “She’s always checking up on everyone, making sure they have everything they need or want.”

“Our students’ comfort is a top priority. They can’t learn if they’re distracted by inconsequentialities.” She brought her hands together in a businesslike clap. “Now, Aaron, did you review the itinerary I emailed you last week?”

He pulled a disgruntled face.

She withdrew a folded paper from her pocket and offered it to him. “I made a copy for you. Most important, here”—she prodded the page—“is a visit from the Olympus guild master on Friday morning. He’s making a special trip from Greece to see you.”

Aaron sank deeper into the sofa, pointedly not looking at the paper his mom was holding under his nose.

“The Olympus guild?” Sin mouthed silently from behind Valerie’s back, her round eyes revealing her amazement. I was going to go out on a limb and guess it was a famous guild.

“Did you leave me any free time?” Aaron asked, sarcasm leaking into his voice.

Since he wasn’t taking the page, Valerie dropped it on his lap. “If you want to cancel the Ursa Major interview, I can arrange that. They’re making an excellent offer, but even a famous Arcana guild is still …” She shrugged delicately.

“I’m not looking for a new guild.” He tossed the paper on the coffee table and rose to his feet. “I want to give Tori and Sin a tour of the academy.”

“Of course.” Her bright smile returned, a sharp contrast to Aaron’s scowl. “Dinner is at seven, and I also had the chef prepare a light snack.”

She waved to the bar—or maybe it was a sideboard?—where dainty sandwiches, cut into quarters, were heaped on silver platters. I also spotted fruit, little dessert squares, and a covered dish I assumed contained soup, based on the bowls stacked beside it and the steam escaping from beneath the lid.

“I should get back to work myself,” she added. “Ladies, please make yourselves at home. Anything you need, ask Aaron, myself, or any of the house staff.”

As Valerie swept from the room in a swirl of peach fabric and vanilla-rose perfume, Aaron and Kai approached the sideboard thing with a predatory gleam in their eyes. They didn’t seem to notice or care that those little sandwiches were the fanciest things I’d ever seen as they started eating.

Curious, I picked up Aaron’s itinerary and scanned it. Whoa. He hadn’t been kidding about the lack of free time. Interviews, meetings, lunches …

Sin peered over my shoulder. “Aaron, are you teaching this week?”

“Does it say I am?” he asked grumpily as he shoved a sandwich triangle in his mouth. “Then yeah.”

“You’re giving a lecture on”—she squinted—“advanced cognitive visualization on Wednesday afternoon.”